Sandbank Community Council Minutes of Meeting 17 th November 2015 Sandbank Village Hall

Transcription

1 Present Convenor; Sue McKillop (SM), Vice Convenor Iain McNaughton (IM), Secretary; Stephanie Auld (SA), Tom McKillop (TM), Margaret Hill (MH), Bill Rankin (BR) Treasurer, Eric Large (EL) Members of Public Judith Moen 1. Apologies Gordon Blair 2. Police Report PC Susan Church gave report. 10 incidents of note. Theft of fuel, house fire at Sandhaven, Dangerous wall, 1 Assault, 1 road traffic incident. Brake National Road Safety week, vulnerable road users, th November Declarations of interest None 4. Minutes of meeting on 20 th Octobber 2015 and matters arising SM advised Cllr BM that the sign at Rankins Brae is still obscured by bushes, Cllr BM will raise again. SM advised that a sign had been added to the gate of Torlochan site. Cllr BM confirmed this Minutes of 20 th October 2015 proposed by IM seconded by BR 5. Treasurer s Report BR reported: alance bfwd from Sept October Income Income: Subtotal Subtotal: Expenses Expenses: Total Total: Councillor s Report Cllr GB Bus Shelter at Sandhaven has been repaired, at long last. Response which I received re community purchase of the land at the old school was less than satisfactory!! I am in Kilmory tomorrow and will have a meeting arranged with the solicitor to seek guidance on some legal points so will you some comments. Extra bus shelter for kids in the morning - no money! 1

2 Flooding at Sandhaven averted due to bunding put in by Mr Honer. I will take photos tomorrow at first light and hand them to the Chief Executive tomorrow morning. This is a ridiculous situation. Christmas Eve Carol Service is being publicised in the Observer along with the establishment/launch of Cowal Community Orchestra based at the Heritage Centre! Budget Cuts. The SNP Group is reviewing the selection of cuts proposed by Cllr Walsh s Administration. The SNP Group will be specifically reviewing those areas which affect the vulnerable in our communities, where acceptable and adequate service delivery can be maintained, issues where there is major community impact and staffing levels. This work is on going within the group and with the Parliamentarians input we will have a viable alternative which will be competent at the Council meeting in February. Some discussion will no doubt be undertaken between our Group Leader Sandy Taylor and group leaders of other opposition groups in the weeks ahead. Cllr BM I understand that the Boundaries Commission will report back to Councils around February The Council Administration Service Choices is causing a fair old rumpus amongst the electorate, with the huge cuts to teacher support staff being the most controversial. I also have concerns for the proposal to make huge cuts in grants to the Third Sector. Dunoon CC will be holding a meeting for the public to ask questions and give their views. I have grave concerns as unfortunately, the SNP group of Cllrs. who are supposed to be the opposition to the Council Administration, agreed as members of the Budget Project Board and then at the Council meeting on 22nd October, to the Service Choices going out to the communities and appear not to be mounting a credible opposition to the proposed cuts in our services. I took the issue of a 40mph speed limit on the Cot House to Sandhaven to the Bute & Cowal Area business day and officers have gone away and will carry out a review. In the paper to the committee it was pointed out that the area could be described as rural and is not built up and there is no street lighting or adjacent footway, also there is not a high incidence of recorded road accidents, in a three year period there have only been five incidents recorded with a total of eight vehicles involved. However once the proposed new foot path is installed a re-assessment for this section of road can be carried out. With regard to the footpath, Stuart Clark, Roads Department, advised that it hasn t been decided if it will be started. Cllr BM is chasing this, as we were told categorically in August that it would be getting done. At the Community Partnership meeting on 10th Nov. we had a presentation again from Robert Thorburn, BT Broadband officer. 410m of public and private investment has gone into the Highlands & Islands area, 20,000 homes and businesses are now connected to superfast broadband. Dunoon and Sandbank have already had many connections, the rest to follow soon. Businesses at Sandbank Business Park are being urged to apply for ethernet connections which will aid them greatly. Kilmun and Ardentinny exchanges are planned to be coming on stream in the very near future. The only local community not to be connected next year is Glendaruel. A&BC is taking 15 families of Syrian immigrants from Lebanon, this will be a total of 59 in all including children and they will be housed in ACHA and Fyne Homes empty houses in 2

3 Rothesay, a huge effort is going into ensuring that this is a smooth transition for these poor people. David Honer is struggling to keep the northern end of Sandhaven phase 2, from flooding and has asked for some help from the Council. I have asked Council Officers to report to the next Area Business Day on what actions they propose to alleviate the current situation. I have contacted Walter MacArthur with regard to the e mail sent by your Convener last Friday about the timer for the lights at the Play Park. Walter has replied to the effect that Ryan McGlynn will have a new time clock fitted in the first week of Dec. Walter feels a wee bit sore as he thought he had complied with all requests from the CC. 7. Community Councillor s Business SM First can I say a big thank you to everyone who helped make our Bonfire and Firework event such a fantastic success. I think everyone will agree that it was our best yet and the tombola raffle and baked potatoes helped boost the money needed to pay for them. I am sure you are all aware of the money donations we had from local businesses and also donations toward the raffle and tombola. John Maskell and Anne Simpson must be thanked for going out and getting these. The banners were donated by Ballantyne Signs and we can reuse then each year as we can remove the date and replace it with a new one. Thanks Judith and Hilda For braving the rain with Iain and Stephanie s husband and Dave Simpson for helping Tom put up and take down the stalls. Next our Christmas switch on and Meet and Greet Santa for the children of Sandbank school in the village hall, on Sunday 29 th of Nov Iain has proposed that we submit a question to the meeting in Dec regarding the community asset transfer of the land that the old school was on. It did not sell at the closing date of 21 st Aug and though I have asked for information regarding the land I have had no satisfactory reply. We have talked about it before but I propose that we take a vote tonight as to whether we go ahead and pursue the land or not. If we do then the next step is to get the views of the community and how exactly we do that is something we need to think about. Do we write to each household or do we hold an open day/evening and present our proposal to them. The 50/50 letters are written but now need folded and Tom has suggested that we contact data base direct as they have a machine that can do this. Hopefully we will get answers to these issues tonight and we can then begin to move forward with them. Cllr BM to talk to Caroline at Estates regarding the Community Buyout and get back to us Asap. We have spoken to Gerry at Holy Loch Inn and the clock. He doesn t want the clock down, 3

4 He wants it fixed. This is too costly. SM advised that the clock will be removed by a certified Electrician, and will go in and advise him that it will be removed. TM Christmas lights have been altered. They now don t flash and should not cause a problem. They are now on static. Face for clock will be going on hopefully at the same time as the Christmas tree going up. IM Will send Margaret MacVicar an to thank her for the 18 from the sale of books. Spoke to Beth Aitken about the use of the land, site above community center. She thinks this is great as the cubs and scouts can use it in the summer for camping. IM has drawn up a draft letter of agreement with a few conditions for use of the land. IM will get this sent to her. SA to send template of letter head. 8. Local Community Planning 9. Planning?? IM reported that since the last meeting there had been only three planning applications related to properties in Sandbank, a non-material amendment and the following :- Alterations and erection of extension at "Rockbank Cottage", Shore Road (15/02814/PP) Erection of conservatory at 18 Albert Place (15/02935/PP) He considered no action was required Cllr BM has been in touch with Howard Young regarding the Marina; the agent acting for the Marina has submitted additional plans showing an area of where extra soil has been laid. A new planning application will be submitted in due course. On another matter Howard Young has met with a property owner regarding flooding problems, a consultant was taken along and I am waiting on further communication. 10. Any other Business None 11. Public Questions /50 Draw Letter printed and will be delivered in due course. 13. Date of the next meeting 4

5 The next meeting will be on Tuesday 15 th December 2015 at 7.00pm. 5